Argumentative skills in higher education: a comparative approach

Abstract

This text analyzes how curricular units of distinct areas of knowledge may refer, demand and promote argumentative reasoning. This is considered to be a fundamental feature in Higher Education within the framework of the Bologna Process. The objective of the study is to establish how argumentative skills developed by students should be promoted and assessed in courses from two different areas of knowledge. The sample was made up from 282 students assessment elements developed in 4 undergraduate courses for students majoring in Psychology, Educational Science and Engineering, of University of Porto. The methodological approach used was content analysis and data were treated by N-Vivo software. Data in relation with the courses supply the bases to infer that the current position held by argumentative skills in Higher Education depends on the area of knowledge, as well as on the conditions and methods of student assessment.